Maintenance And Troubleshooting of Bulk Conveyor Systems for Offshore Support Vessels

Bulk system of offshore support vessel is characterized by high risk, high investment and high technology content, and once there is any problem, the inability to supply bulk materials to offshore facilities in time will lead to the delay of the construction period, so the normal operation of the bulk system is particularly important to ensure the smooth progress of offshore oil exploration project.

一、Components of a Bulk Material Handling System

Bulk material conveying system is mainly used for offshore support vessel or supply vessel to supply cement, quartz, bentonite and other bulk materials to exploration drilling platforms and oil production platforms, the system mainly consists of bulk material tanks, conveying pipelines, power air source (air compressor), air dehumidification equipment, actuators, control systems and other components.

二、Bulk Material Conveying System Daily Maintenance Points

Good maintenance of the entire bulk system in daily work determines the working condition of the equipment during its entire life cycle and is an important basis for ensuring the smooth operation of bulk material transportation on offshore support vessels.

Slick Oil System Maintenance: Regularly clean the screen of the oil return filter on the oil return pipe, and unclog its throttle hole to prevent clogging and unable to return oil.

Oil Return Line on Oil Separator

Internal Oil Return Filter

Cooling System Maintenance: marine bulk air compressor is mainly water-cooled, the usual maintenance mainly pay attention to ensure that the seawater pipeline is smooth, to provide sufficient cooling water.

Regulating Valve Maintenance: in the daily management of the regulating valve should pay close attention to the degree of tightness of the screws, once the locking screws loose, regulating valve action will make the relative position of the connecting parts to change, the set value changes, the entire system conditions are affected and even the air compressor can not work properly.

Maintenance of the Electrical System: regularly check the working condition of the electrical components in the control box, run a thermometer to measure the main switch and contactor temperature is normal, to keep the control box exhaust fan running normally.

三、Common Problems and Treatment Measures of Bulk Material Conveying System

Bulk material conveying system in the use of common problems are: air compressor can not start, failure in the process of operation shutdown, start can not be loaded or can not reach the set pressure; bulk material conveying pipeline valve failure, conveying system clogging and so on. To analyze the piping system failure as an example, the most serious is the pipeline blockage, which will paralyze the entire system. Pipeline blockage includes transportation pipeline blockage, air inlet pipeline blockage and so on. The following and we analyze the causes of pipeline blockage and countermeasures.

(1) Reasons for Clogging the Intake Pipe:

Reasons for blockage of the intake pipeline can be attributed to two points: one is the pipeline memory with bulk material, the second is the pipeline within the water. The source of moisture for the compressed air water content is large, the source of bulk material may be part of the boiling cloth broken bulk material under the leakage, the supply of bulk material at the end of the tank pressure is greater than the pressure of the inlet pipeline, the inlet valve is not closed tightly caused by bulk material backing up.

Preventive Measures: Check the working condition of the water separator of the air compressor and the working condition of the cold dryer, dredge the water filter at the bottom of the water separator and the solenoid valve for water discharge, adjust the drainage time, and ensure the dryness of the compressed air. Regularly check the condition of boiling cloth in the bulk material tank, close the air inlet valve at the end of bulk material supply, open the bulk material tank breather valve, and always keep the positive pressure in the air supply pipeline.

(2) Causes of Blockage of Bulk Material Supply Main Line

Excessive bulk material remaining in the line or water in the line.

Preventive measures: Pay attention to the deck outside the supply line must be kept closed tightly when not in use, to prevent the filling of seawater. Replace the damaged valves in time, and after the supply is finished, first open the bulk material tank for ventilation and finally close the blowing valve to ensure that the main line is clean.

(3) Transportation Pipeline Clogging Treatment Method

The part of the main pipeline most likely to be clogged for the help of the blowing pipeline and the intersection of the main pipeline to the back 2-5 meters, because the compressed air water content is large, first of all, the impact of the help of the blowing valve near the bulk material clumping. Determine the blockage site is to determine the amount of work, the external supply of bulk material pipeline diameter, disassembly and dredging are very difficult to minimize the scope of disassembly, predict the construction time. Bulk material line unclogging often takes more than ten or even twenty hours, to make good staffing arrangements.

Conclusion 

Bulk material conveying system is an important external supply system on offshore support vessels, the crew should familiarize themselves with the equipment manual, understand the working principle, master the management and troubleshooting skills, and carefully maintain every link in the system. Effective preventive measures should be formulated for common failures, and good preventive measures can greatly reduce the probability of failure.